Kristaps Porzingis pulls out of NBA draft, will stay in Europe for another season

In somewhat of a surprise, 7-foot Kristaps Porzingis has pulled out of this month's NBA draft and will return to Europe for the next year, his agent Andy Miller told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night.

Porzingis, 18, had a chance to be a top-20 pick in the draft, but believes he can move even higher in the 2015 draft. He's a versatile and offensively gifted forward.

International players have until Monday to withdraw from the draft.

Porzingis had inspired a great deal of interest with NBA teams in the middle part of the first round, and some executives believed he could've even risen into the back part of the lottery. He'll return to play for Sevilla in the elite Spanish ACB League this season.

DraftExpress.com has Porzingis getting picked at No. 15 in its most recent mock draft.